


Inside the Box

by WinglessCrows



Series: Through the Eyes of a Cook [22]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Food, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 17:38:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14117481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinglessCrows/pseuds/WinglessCrows
Summary: "Are we sure he's okay?" Usopp almost whispered though he didn't sound too concerned."He's not ill, I've checked," Chopper shrugged."But he's been standing in the same position for hours now. What do you think he's doing?"





	Inside the Box

It is usually minor problems or complications which frustrates a person. It is not life threatening dangers or philosophical ponderings, it is the small and seemingly meaningless things. It makes sense and seems important to the person who wants to solve that small problem, while others can only watch idly by as they try to understand why the person is getting agitated by what seems like nothing. This was the situation currently unfolding in the kitchen of the Sunny at this very moment.

Sanji could hear them talking, but he didn't care, they did not  _understand_ what was going on. This was his problem and he was going to solve it no matter how long it took him and he didn't care if he had to kill a man in the process. He was  _doing_  this. It was his duty as a chef. His pride was at stake! But he still couldn't figure it out. It seemed like he had tried everything. Every possibly combination, but each time something had been off. The consistency, the flavour, the colour, always something! He had written it all down as he had worked, and crossed out all the failures, but still, he couldn't get it right. What was he missing? What was the key to this? He would figure it out. One way or another, he would solve this mystery.

Of course Sanji's silent determination did not help the confused crew in the slightest.

"Are we sure he's okay?" Usopp almost whispered though he didn't sound too concerned.

"He's not ill, I've checked," Chopper shrugged.

"But he's been standing in the same position for  _hours_ now. What do you think he's doing?" Nami asked, she too sounded less concerned for his well being than Sanji liked.

"Maybe he's thinking," Robin offered.

"Thinking?" Zoro snorted, "You need a brain to think."

A short pause.

"He didn't even react..." Franky sighed.

"Maybe if Nami-san were to show us her panties?" Brook mused, and got his head bashed in by said Nami-san.

"Do you think he'll still make dinner?" Luffy asked innocently, while Nami and Usopp sighed.

"Shouldn't you be less worried about food and more worried about Sanji?" Franky asked.

"But Chopper said that he wasn't ill!" Luffy protested.

"Just because he's not ill doesn't mean that nothing is wrong, Luffy," Chopper informed.

More silence...

"Do you think he'll react if we throw water on him?" Zoro suggested.

"Maybe...?" Usopp wondered, possibly doing a thinking pose.

"What about scolding hot water?" Zoro continued.

"We are trying to help him, not hurt him!" Nami yelled and smacked Zoro in the head. Maybe she would kill a man before Sanji could.

"Ice cold then," Zoro said rubbing his head.

"Stop it with the water suggestions!" Franky interrupted, "If he doesn't react, he'll just get a cold, and then he will actually be ill."

"What if we tickle him," Luffy beamed, probably being more excited by the prospect of causing mischief than actually helping anyone.

"I already tried," Chopper sighed... There was a lot of sighing going on today.

"When did you try that?" Brook asked confused.

"When I checked if he was ill. I was climbing all over him, so I tried tickling him to get a reaction... Didn't work."

"And~ We're back to square one," Nami said sounding more annoyed by the minute.

"Maybe if we try to figure out what happened to Sanji, we can figure out how to solve it," Robin suggested.

"Now that sounds like a solid plan," Franky cheered.

"Who was the last person to see Sanji moving?" Robin started and it almost sounded like she was starting an interrogation.

"I think that was me," Usopp answered, "I had just come back from the town with supplies and some snacks, and I offered Sanji one of these dumplings, which I thought was really good. Sanji seemed to agree and went to the kitchen to cook... Chopper found him not long after."

"So maybe there was something in the dumpling?" Brook wondered almost to himself.

"But that can't be," Usopp objected, "I ate that dumpling too, remember? And I'm fine."

"Maybe you have it to come," Zoro grinned. He was having too much fun.

"That makes no sense. Sanji has been like this for hours, and I ate more of it than he did."

"Then maybe it's an allergic reaction?" Zoro suggested and more sighs were heard.

"That's not how allergies work!" Chopper explained.

"We're not making any progress here," Nami interrupted.

"What about that piece of paper" Luffy said casually.

"What piece of paper?" A few people asked confused.

"The one on the table in front of him."

"Huh?"

"This one?" Robin asked having grabbed the paper with her powers.

"What is it?" Nami asked slowly.

"It looks like a list of ingredients... There must be at least a hundred items on here, but most of them have been crossed out... I wonder why..." Robin mused.

"Wait!" Usopp exclaimed suddenly, "Give me that!"

Another round of silence, followed by the sound of Usopp going trough the contents of his bag.

"I knew it!" He then shouted without any further elaboration.

"Care to enlighten us?" Nami asked.

"This is a list of the ingredients in the dumplings... Well almost all of them anyway."

"What do you mean  _almost_?" Franky pushed.

"Well, all of the items that aren't crossed out are part of the recipe, and the ones crossed out aren't. But! He is missing one item."

"How do you know he's missing an item? Since when did you become a cook?" Zoro interrupted.

"Because of this," Usopp presented something to the crew, "The woman who gave me the dumplings also gave me the recipe!"

_The recipe?_ Sanji turned around and snatched the piece of paper out of Usopp's hand and read it.

"He moved!" Luffy shouted,

"... He moved... How dull," Zoro yawned.

"He actually moved," Usopp tilted his head.

Sanji went through the ingredients on the recipe and felt really stupid. He hadn't taken into account that the base ingredients could have been home made brands, but this soy sauce on the list had its own complicated recipe. Thankfully, Sanji was a skilled chef and this was not outside his capabilities. Sanji then went back to the kitchen and made the dumplings following the recipe Usopp had gotten and finally,  _finally,_ after hours and hours of work, he had recreated it... Of course, he hadn't actually done it by himself... He'd been close, but essentially he had failed. Oh well, it had worked out in the end.

"Wait..." Nami said and Sanji turned to her, "Are you telling me that all of  _this_ was because you tried to make dumplings?" She did not look happy.

"Well..." Sanji started, "Why don't you try one?" Sanji offered, hoping to escape her wrath... and her fists. It didn't seem to work.

"There is point in getting worked up about it, Nami," Robin said calmly and took the food Sanji offered her, "Why don't we just eat the dumplings and move on."

"Yes! Sanji! Food!" Luffy exclaimed excited, and Sanji passed the dumplings around to everyone, though Nami was still looking rather unhappy. Yes, it truly were the small things that caused the most frustration.


End file.
